than Job, nor than poor S. S. therefore all the time you can find one bleating sheep or lowing ox before you, it is the footsteps of the flock, and is holy and consecrated ground: and our Jacob will not overdrive the cattle, nor let Esau help him, lest he should. Quit yourself like a man, stand your ground; plead guilty, plead the atonement, plead the promise, the covenant, and the invitations of God, and confess all that is amiss; "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." We are to pray, and not to faint; to beg the three loaves at midnight, and importune till the master arises and gives us for the poor friend that is on his way, that is, the poor starving soul that calls for the bread of life. The importunate widow fainted not, and the elect cry day and night, and shall not God avenge them? yea, surely. Various are the changes that pass over a soul in your case, sometimes hoping and then hopeless, active, and then dead, earnest and then indifferent, submissive and then rebellious, melting and then callous, shining and then begloomed, talkative and then dumb, at the door of hope and then in the belly of hell; and this is all furnace-work, tribulationwork, paddling in the pit of horror, and mire of corruption. Go on, my son, go on, and never give it up. I have just got another shower of paper kites raining upon my head, and have been these three weeks describing in a sermon the

workings of legal bondage; it will be published next Saturday, and I will send you ten or a dozen.

God bless thee.

W. H. S. S.

LETTER LX.

To the Rev. J. JENKINS.

Not unto me, O Lord, not unto me, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. It is enough for me that God regards the son of my vows, and not for our sakes, but for his own covenant name's sake, and for his dear Son's sake in whom that name is manifested; that he hears the cries of poor worms, and humbles himself to grant their requests. I have done as thou hast desired me, I have thanked the best and most benign of all parents in thy behalf, and blessed him, and praised him for thee, and on thy account; and if heart and conscience, if feelings and affections can speak, God cordially accepted it, and it was more pleasing unto him than a bullock that has horns and hoofs. I cannot help weeping and laughing while I write this, thinking what a poor, blind, beggarly mass of ignorance, filth, and scum they are who now do the

service of the sanctuary, and minister to the Lord in the priest's office: one came from the swineherd, another from the coal-barge, to take orders; but still it is Aaron and his sons, the everlasting Father and his family; and our anointing is that of an everlasting priesthood. But there is such a disparity between the high-priest in the holy of holies, and we who wait at the altar, that, if our faith was not from above, we should have just right to conclude that our approaches to the mercy-seat, would be as dangerous as that of Korah. But the anointing oil is upon us, and God has taken us from among the Gentiles to be priests and Levites, and to minister in the holy place; and we know that we are accepted, and our enemies know it as well as we, and not a small number are contending, and would even fight for the office: and there are not a few that thrust themselves into it whom God thrusts out again, as he did the king with his leprosy in his forehead. The blood of sprinkling upon the conscience is the atonement, and the fine linen of an imputed righteousness is the ephod, and truth in the mind and heart, this is the curious girdle; hope of salvation, this is the bonnet, and a heavenly countenance is the mitre; love to the brethren, this is the breastplate; gospel knowledge and perfect love are the Urim and Thummim; the joy of faith is the anointing oil; a believing heart is the golden censer; the graces of God's Spirit are the odoriferous spices; the

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Spirit is the fire that kindles the incense; and earnest desires of being accepted is the cloud of smoke that ascends up before the throne. This is the furniture of the priests with which they are furnished for all the service of the sanctuary. A few days ago I was obliged all at once to send a few lines to your excellency, not knowing how low you might be, but I know of none who make more noise about little matters than you do; and if I had thought that my letter would have lain two days unopened, I should not have taken the pains to send it. Adieu.

W. H.

THIS

LETTER LXI.

To the Rev. J. JENKINS.

HIS day is Thursday, and I have just received yours. Thou wilt not go out with haste, nor go by flight; the Lord goes before thee, and will gather thee up behind; so that the leadings of his kind providence, and the energy of his grace shall lead the van, and all the faithfulness and truth that he has shewed shall bring up the rear. The greatest cause of my dear son's grief springs from the want of information of the Spirit's work; I must interrogate my beloved. "We are saved by hope," this therefore is one of the things that accom

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pany salvation; and in this thou hast stood firm and fast for ten years at least, nor has it ever lost ground or lost strength; nay, you have abounded. in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost. The principal work of God's Spirit is that of purging us from our filthiness, and from our idols; you labour not under the guilt, nor under the weight of either of these; this you dare not disown, but must confess the truth of my assertions.

2. The quickening operations of the Spirit are the most blessed, and the most invaluable influences from God that ever the offspring of Adam knew or enjoyed; and this is manifest in thee by illumination, affection, motion, and sensations, which give you an appetite; and what we eat we love, and what we love we crave and covet, seek and follow after. The kingdom stands in power; this has made thee willing in every sense, and has sensibly, evidently, and conspicuously fortified, emboldened, equipped, and furnished thee, and supported thee in every time of trouble; yea more, it hath lifted thee up when secretly fallen, more than seven times, or than seventy times seven. As thy days so has thy strength been; you have been filled with power and might by the Spirit to shew Jacob his transgressions. And this has sensibly risen up in thee-sometimes at home, before you went forth to the pulpit; sometimes in the vestry, just before you entered; and sometimes you found it as soon as you began, though it went not in with you; and sometimes